BfK 5 – 8 Infant/Junior


deep red, creating a gently-charged emotional landscape in which the story can really stretch its wings. Paper Planes is by the author- partnership behind


illustrator


The Snow Lion and will appeal to thoughtful four-year-olds as well as children in KS1. CFH


The Great Big Book of Life HHHH


Mary Hoffman, ill. Ros Asquith, Lincoln, 32pp, 9781786031808, £12.99, hbk


Paper Planes HHHH


Jim Helmore, ill. Richard Jones, Simon and Schuster, 32pp, 978 1 4711 7387 5, £6.99 pbk


Mia and Ben are best friends. They do everything together, but what they like most is making paper planes. They race them against birds, hoping one day to build a plane that will fly across the lake.


Then comes the devastating


news that Ben is moving to the city. Exchanging model planes, the children vow to remain friends. But winter


Five More Minutes is hard for both of them,


and Mia ends up smashing Ben’s gift. That night she dreams the plane is whole again and she’s flying it high in the sky among the geese. Ben’s there, too, piloting the plane she gave him. Next morning a parcel arrives from Ben. It’s a model plane, but it lacks wings and he needs her help to finish it.Using what she learned observing the geese, Mia designs wings for Ben’s plane. It soars across the lake - and so their model-making friendship is renewed. Ben and Mia’s story is well-judged, with enough depth and detail to engage


its audience. There’s a


sense of honesty and direct-talking here that


children will warm to -


difficult emotions are acknowledged and there are no grand promises. Progress is made through imaginative thoughtfulness,


commitment dream,


care, and although there’s a hint of magic about the


also a lovely example of the way creative insights come about. Mia’s talent


planes is integral to the plot, but it’s refreshingly


for designing and building downplayed.


Helmore


doesn’t labour the ‘STEM girl’ angle and Mia’s character is nicely rounded. Some readers may find the switch from paper planes to actual models a little disorienting but it’s a minor point and the title page does feature an image showing both, which sets the scene for those who read the pictures as carefully as they do the text! And the


illustrations really are


worth savouring. Softly textured and infused with nostalgia, they take a short-cut to the heart and make us feel we know this place. Saturated greeny-blues


and bluey-greys are punctuated by pops of terracotta and 22 Books for Keeps No.236 May 2019


and it’s


HHHHH


Marta Altés, Macmillan, 32pp, 978 1 5098 6602 1, £12.99 hbk


’Time is a funny thing. Dad talks about it a lot. But I think I know more about it time than he does.’ So begins this unusual picture book


narrated by a thoughtful little fox who then sets about proving the veracity of the statement that applies to most adults, Dad in particular. Frequently on his lips are such comments as ‘five more minutes’ when the little foxes are bouncing on his bed, trying to get him up in the mornings, but “we have no time!” when he’s trying desperately to get his offspring ready for nursery. Little Fox’s interpretation of Dad’s time’


‘no translates into time for


puddle jumping, making new friends, juggling, bird watching and more. Never mind if they miss the bus. Not only is Dad wrong about time,


he has no idea about how it actually works, getting


confused, stressing


that an hour is a long time when in reality it’s a very short period. Other times though he states that time goes very fast when it goes very, very slowly indeed. Flexibility is what’s required and that’s what Fox is eager to make Dad understand. There


is however one part of


the day that despite his superior knowledge and understanding about time, little Fox is more than happy for them all to pool their knowledge on and that is a shared storytime (and sometimes sleeping time too.) With its superbly expressive


illustrations, parents, carers and teachers of young children especially, will relate to this adorable tale of how adults and children experience the same thing in completely contrasting ways. JB


Tackling a huge topic, this book offers a whistle stop tour of life’s main stages with a particular focus on babies. Seven of its double page spreads look at what babies can do, how they communicate, why they wake at night, what they eat, potty training and how they are protected from illness. The reader is invited to make connections with babies they know. Childhood,


adulthood are dealt with very briefly, but


some important


teenage years and ideas


are


included, for example that in old age some people may become forgetful and more in need of support while others on the other hand may continue with an active life working or pursuing their interests. There is an effort to demonstrate there is no one ‘right’ way to live; for example, indicating not everyone has a partner or gets married. These insights may serve to reassure children some of whom may make connections with people they know. The book introduces children to other information too, such as the fact that some children in the world don’t go to school and some adults can’t find a job. The illustrations bring the text to


life and add to the text, for example two


children communicating


with sign language adds another dimension to the pages focused on language. Illustrations such as the teenager’s bedroom will chime with many adult readers and add humour. A caption on the title page invites eagle eyed readers to spot the cat on every page. This book is 6th in a highly acclaimed series which includes The Great Big Book of Feelings and The Great Big Book of Families from the same


writer/illustrator team. This


addition celebrates life and how amazing humans are. It leaves readers with the valuable message that we all have a life worth living and we should make the most of every day. SMc


I saw a Bee HHHH


Rob Ramsden, Scallywag Press, 32pp, 978 1 9126 5 5003 3, £11.99 hbk


Bees are vitally important. We’re


reminded of this fact almost daily; and currently living most of the time on the edge of Stroud, Britain’s ‘first Bee Friendly Town’ I was immediately struck by the message in this, the author’s debut picture book. Rob uses mostly visuals to tell his


story, with a little boy narrator who relates what happens when he comes upon a large box, lifts the lid and in so doing releases a bee.


Unsurprisingly said bee buzzes right


at the scared lad, who, swatter in hand, chases the insect away, then climbs inside the box to hide. Off buzzes the bee, leaving the field clear for other minibeasts. Sometime later, the boy emerges to start a game of hide and seek, but of the bee there is no sign, let alone a buzz. Then the boy starts to miss his Apis acquaintance until he hears a welcome sound, follows it and a joyfully buzzy reunion takes place. This effectively


simple


beautifully patterned and


illustrated boy sharing our book is with stylish,


graphics showing bee precious


natural environment. The first of a proposed series of books aiming to ‘encourage young children to enjoy and appreciate the natural world’ it’s perfect


for sharing with young


listeners and equally, with its short rhythmic rhyming text, an ideal book for beginning readers. Either way, it conveys its crucial environmental message


without Grobblechops HHHH


Elizabeth Laird, illus. Jenny Lucander, Tiny Owl, 32pp, 9781910328415, £12.99 hbk


Here’s a clever variation on the


theme of the fear of monsters in the night. Dad’s first idea of reassurance is to pledge armed family back-up in the case of monster attack. He’ll be there with a frying pan if the monster isn’t deterred by Amir’s scariest face. However, far-sighted Amir worries that this may be a self-defeating strategy, with the monster’s


parents being


drawn into the fray as well as his own. Dad can see the logic of that and re- thinks, adding some subtle parental and child psychology which brings big and little humans together with their monster counterparts. Elizabeth Laird’s


Lucander’s


story is realised in Jenny vibrant


illustrations in


which the bedroom tilts and threatens to empty its contents as the combat builds up, only to be brought onto an even keel when the adults sit down to chat over a coffee and human child and monster child settle down to play on the rug. The story is based on a tale by Rumi, the thirteenth century


a hint of


preachiness. I look forward to seeing the next title, We Found a Seed. JB


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